Frequent flyers at United Airlines can breathe a sigh of relief: the carrier has made clear it plans no “material” changes to MileagePlus next year, marking a divergent strategy from Delta Air Lines.
United Airlines Promises “No Material Changes” To MileagePlus For 2024-2025 Program Year
Speaking at this morning’s 3Q23 earnings call, United’s Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella preemptively addressed the MileagePlus question so many frequent flyers have had:
The good news is we have no material changes planned for 2025 program year.
We’ve carefully managed our premier population in recent years to maintain a robust and valuable set of benefits for each premier member.
Nocella went on to explain that United will continue to offer more premium redemption opportunities to its frequent flyers than American or Delta, which was an interesting quip that recognizes how savvy frequent flyers value MileagePlus because of access to premium cabin seats on United and partner carriers.
United’s cautionary approach to tinkering with MileagePlus is something that I predicted, though it is great to hear such confirmation from a senior United official.
Good News For MileagePlus Members – Status Quo Is Acceptable In Inflationary Environment
I think the news today is about the best we could have hoped for during an inflationary period in which mileage balances are also increasing. While true that business travel has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, we see an increase in leisure travel and an increase in premium demand as United’s algorithms become more effective at pricing seats to stimulate demand.
We still may see minor adjustments (no “material” change does not mean no change at all), but I do not expect we will see much of an increase in spending requirements for United’s four published elite tiers.
And this is a good move and one that recognizes that you do not mess with a program that is working. In theory, United could increase revenue with Chase (its best customer of all) by linking status to credit card spending the way American Airlines has done and Delta Air Lines seems likely to do. But doing so might well alienate those travelers at the margin (like me) who are willing to spend good money (almost $20K this year) to fly United, but will not do so without a loyalty program that actually makes the marginal choice to fly United worthwhile with perks like upgrades, lounge access, and reasonably-priced redemptions.
CONCLUSION
United MileagePlus will likely look very similar in 2024 to the way it has in 2023. As a frequent United flyer, I am good with this…and this virtually confirms I will again seek top-tier status on United in 2024 for 2025.
Are you surprised that United will not follow Delta in terms of radical changes to its loyalty program?
image: United Airlines
They’ve already inflated the unofficial award chart (admittedly, to still fair prices except possibly to Japan for obvious reasons), earlier this year so more devals would be aggressive by them. Given I have more utility with other *A programs tho, my last remaining goal w/ MileagePlus is to leverage the “Excursionist Perk” on the Island Hopper someday
Nice. Have you done the Island Hopper before? It’s such a unique and fun experience.
I haven’t, but I did do both Alaska Airlines “milk runs” of Anchorage to Juneau via Cordova & Yakutat, and Juneau to Seattle via Wrangell, Petersburg & Ketchikan and really enjoyed that!
Island hopper definitely I’ll try to do this decade as sea level rise sadly puts Majuro in particular at high risk
I used to do the island hopper all the time for work when I was stationed in Guam. It’s such a unique experience but so t forget to hit up the western end, i.e. Yap and Palau. Those are by far my favorites of all the North Pacific islands and I’ve seen them all. Also Guam is a starting/ending point for great sweet spot mileageplus redemptions to Australia and New Zealand if you want to extend your trip. 😉 Best of luck to you.
Since United just guided to a weak 4th quarter and their stock is down 7% so far, they know they have lived off the unsustainable zeal of post COVID international and are not about to hurt their relatively small domestic network.
Delta made its Skymiles changes based on sustained levels of premium demand across its network and they are guiding to continued growth of their loyalty program revenue. Like United, Delta knows you have to tell investors the truth.
@ Tim — Delta seems to know little about being honest.
Dear Timmy: Shut Up.
You know that this doesn’t really mean anything. Think about all those policies by companies who told employees that they could work from home forever and then pulled a bait and switch after many employees moved away from their workplace based on employer promises.
A bit disappointed. The heard needs to be thinned a bit more. Just look at the 1K pre-board lines.
And what is this “premium redemption” you speak of? I see fewer and fewer actual benefits each year coming from being a 1K
The current pre board lines are based on relaxed criteria from last year. The higher criteria this year should make the elite group for next year slightly smaller…at least that’s what I tell myself chasing status this year.
You are correct, the GS and 1K list will be much smaller in 2024
Semi related news, Delta did roll back their extreme medallion requirements. Just saw the news so I haven’t crunched numbers yet but there’s been some positive buffs across the board.
Delta knows nothing about telling the truth. But they do have a Goebbels Jr. who pretends to tell it for them.